O, What Men Dare Do!
by Lucy Sienna
Summary: The sequel to "The Course of Love". I recommend reading that first. The Darcy family plans to welcome a new member, but dangerous interference from the press could spell disaster for the pair. Complete! Sorry about the wait.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: A continuation of my other story, _The Course of Love, _the second in what I hope will be a three-story cycle. The Darcy's plan to welcome a new addition to their family, but dangerous interference from the press leads to some serious obstacles.

_O, What Men Dare Do!_

By: Lucy Sienna

Elizabeth Darcy sat in a cozy chair reading a book. The snow was falling softly outside, but she had no plans for travel, so she really did not mind. Suddenly, the lamp she had on cut off. Since it was the only light in the room, Elizabeth had to feel her way to the door. Oddly enough, she found the entry lights were off as well. The whole townhouse was dark, so was the street outside.

"Will! Will! Where are you? There's some sort of blackout." Elizabeth called.

She heard a door shut, and then heard a muffled shout and a thud.

"Damn step down." William Darcy cursed.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth called.

"I'm fine. You stay still. If I fall, I'll only hurt my pride, if you fall, it could be a lot worse." He replied and made his way slowly down the stairs. "Lizzie? You okay?"

"Yes. What's with the blackout?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know. Let's light some candles, get some light in here so we don't hurt ourselves." Will suggested.

"Sir! My Lord! Someone's broken through the security system!" The housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, said, coming in with a radio and a flashlight. "Charlie is after the intruder, but come, please."

"I found an ID card. He's a pap reporter." Charlie's voice came in over the radio.

"Mrs. Reynolds, please take Lizzie into the kitchen and shut yourselves in there." Darcy sighed, his eyes flashing with fury. "I want the name of the rag he works for and I want this man fired and the rag printing an apology by tomorrow."

"Yes sir." Mrs. Reynolds nodded, getting back on the radio with Will's instructions.

Elizabeth glared at her husband, but followed Mrs. Reynolds anyway. Now was not a good time to talk to him. That look was the look Will only used when he was extremely angry. She sighed and looked at her slightly protruding belly.

"This is all your fault, you know." Elizabeth rubbed her stomach. "Knowing about you has turned your father into a mad man."

"No Mum, just an overprotective on." Mrs. Reynolds set the radio down and locked the kitchen door. "Would you like some tea?"

The offering of tea in a crisis used to bother Elizabeth. Her Aunt Margaret Gardner did it constantly, and it always annoyed her until she asked why.

_"Why do you always want to give me tea when things go south?" Elizabeth asked, sitting on a stool in the kitchen._

_"My dear, it is a mindless task that requires attention, it clears the head and distracts momentarily. It is not meant to make you feel better, though it can, and I always think a good cup of tea does wonders, but it is more meant for the person who makes the tea. It allows them something useful to do when they feel helpless." Lady Margaret Gardner explained. "It is sort of a comfort."_

Ever since that day, Elizabeth Darcy did not refuse a cup of tea in a crisis.

"I can't believe they broke into our home." Elizabeth sighed. "I'm out of the public eye for two weeks and already the rags have all sorts of nasty rumors flying about."

"It's what they do." Mrs. Reynolds sighed. "They will not be happy knowing that you and Mr. Darcy are happily married. Happiness is boring; it is not juicy gossip. You vanishing from sight is suspicious, and they love it. Now they've run out of stories on your disappearance, they must now know the dirty secret that you're hiding. And even if the secret if a good thing, they must make it dirty, or they will not sell as much."

"That's why the sooner we get home to Pemberly the better." Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't want to hide in the house anymore, but if I go out, I'll be mobbed and my picture will be everywhere. I won't mind it, once I tell everyone that I'm pregnant, but I can't let the rags know before my sisters do."

"The renovations are ahead of schedule, so we should be back in Pemberly within the week." Mrs. Reynolds smiled. "Didn't Mr. Darcy tell you?"

"No." Elizabeth crossed her arms. Today was one of her irritable days and Will had not been on her good side for most of it. "He's stopped talking to me again. He's started treating my like a subservient piece of property."

"What?" Will asked, standing in the open doorway.

"Excuse me, sir, mum." Mrs. Reynolds said and left quickly.

"Elizabeth, what is going on?" Will asked. "Why would you say that?"

"You tell me, William." Elizabeth snapped. "You've been telling me what to do for the past week. Don't leave the house, don't walk to the museums. I'm not glass, just pregnant. You are acting like the Lord of the manor again!"

"To protect you! And tonight shows me exactly why I'm protective. There was an intruder, Elizabeth. Someone broke into our house! Our house! Where we sleep and eat and live! A private sanctuary and its been all but destroyed. He was just a reporter, fortunately, but what if he had been a thief or a murderer? Hell, it could have even been Wickham! They just let him out on a damn technicality." Will's baritone voice boomed through the kitchen, echoing off the appliances and cabinets. "It's is not that I don't respect you or your opinion, tonight I reacted, and I would do it again."

"Then why haven't you told me about Pemberly being done ahead of schedule? Why didn't you tell me that my little sister sold her story to the Lifetime channel so they can make it into a movie? Jane and I are slated to go to the US in a few weeks for an interview. They would have asked me about it and I wouldn't have had a clue if it weren't for Sara. I have to find things like this out from my maid! Or the housekeeper! When they should be coming from my husband." Elizabeth stood, the fury in her eyes matching his.

"I was trying to make that go away." Will sighed. "So no one would ever know. Lizzie, I am sorry about not telling you those things. You are right, I should have. But know this, I will protect you if it kills me. I do not care how much of your wrath that gets me; I would die keeping you safe. That's what I did tonight, it's what I will do any night that I feel the lives of my family are threatened."

Elizabeth visibly calmed down. "I understand that. I do. But you have to talk to me. And just because you can make things go away doesn't mean that I have to stay in the dark about it all."

"I don't want to stress you out. That could hurt the baby." He touched her cheek gently.

"My love, it will take a lot more stress than a break in to harm the baby. I can handle it. I promise." She smiled at him. "Now, when can we go home?"

"Tomorrow night, as soon as this mess with the tab is straightened out." He replied, kissing her forehead gently. "Come up to bed?"

Pemberly had always felt like home to Elizabeth. She loved the London townhouse, but there was something so beautiful about the old mansion. It was centuries old, the big house itself was finished four hundred years earlier. The ruins from an even older castle were several hundred meters away, and the whole area had been around for hundreds of years. Some of the families there had been doing the same business for five hundred years. Everything in the house had a story, it was an antique, and it had belonged to this great man or this famous woman. They were constantly discovering the house. It is where Will and dozens of generations of Darcys had been born, and it is where they would continue.

Like many woman before her, Elizabeth wanted a home birth. Will had not originally liked the idea, but after she explained to him that there would be a medical transport on hand to take her to the emergency room should anything go wrong, he relented and allowed her to set it up.

Of course, they were still months away from that event. Thank goodness, because Elizabeth was not sure she was ready to be a mother. She was, after all, only 22. But still, what a beautiful place to raise a child. The house was even pretty right now, though it was a dreary, rainy winter day.

"Lizzie!" A voice called as she got out of the car.

"Jane?" Elizabeth asked, turning to see a blonde woman bounding down the steps toward her, getting soaked.

The two women embraced, completely oblivious to the rain.

"Lizzie. Oh, I've missed you." Jane hugged her sister, than realized that something had changed. "Oh my god! You're pregnant! I can't believe it! Why didn't you call me? We have to get you inside, you'll catch a cold!"

Jane was talking so rapidly; Elizabeth was unable to follow after that as she was led inside by the excited and still jabbering Jane.

"Sara, can you get me another blanket?" Elizabeth asked as she sat in front of the fire later that evening, several blankets already draped around her. Will had been in parliament meetings now for three days straight, and even though Jane was here, and she had her sister's constant companionship, Elizabeth was miserable.

"Lizzie, I really don't think you should be out of bed." Jane fussed over her sister. "It's not good for the baby."

"Jane, I'm barely pregnant, and it's just a bit of a cold." Elizabeth replied. "And I maintain that it's all your fault."

"Well I intend to give myself a piece of my mind." Jane sighed, returning to her crossword puzzle.

"Jane…what if I can't be a mother?" Elizabeth asked. "What if I screw up?"

"Lizzie, dogs do not eat birth control pills unless God really wants you to have this baby. You will be a wonderful mother and Will is going to be a great dad. Plus, once Kitty and Mary come to live with you this summer, you'll have all the baby sitters you need."

"I still don't understand why you don't just move in with us as well, permanently, I mean." Elizabeth sighed.

"Come now, Lizzie, I need to be alone with my husband sometime. Besides, I'm getting Lydia this summer." Jane smiled. "She wants me to teach her to be a real lady. I guess she finally feels ashamed of herself after selling her story to one of the trashiest American networks."

"Lizzie!" Darcy's baritone voice rang out through the apartment, interrupting the girl's chat.

"Jane!" Charles's voice joined in with his friend.

"They're home." Jane grinned and ran out of the room. "Don't you move, I'll send him in here!"

Elizabeth did as she was told and stayed in the chair. Suddenly, a very tired but very familiar face appeared in front of her. "Lizzie, are you okay?"

"It's just a cold, Will. I'm fine, just don't get too close, you look tired enough without catching this from me." Elizabeth smiled, and he kissed her forehead. "How was the meeting?"

"Long. Our little break in has led to some ideas of reforming laws regarding the media, and it is all a big headache. Because we can't regulate them too much because of the freedom of the press, but many of us feel that if we don't do something the press will only get worse." Darcy sighed, plopping down in the chair Jane had just vacated. "The Queen herself spoke for a long time about our responsibility to maintaining free press but also reigning them in at the same time."

"I'm glad you're pushing this issue through." She smiled. "I'm proud of you. Did you see my Uncle?"

"Yes. He says hello and congratulations. Your Aunt must have told him because I did not say a word. Anyway, he's doing well, business is doing great and he wants to make a donation to your reading program."

"I'll have to get it touch with him about that." Elizabeth nodded. "Are we going to be the new face of media control? Isn't this just going to make our lives worse?"

"No. Not really. In some ways, yes. They will be attacking us in the press because it's 'our fault' that their practices are coming under fire. They feel that you belong to the public, so when you try to hide, they get angry, and feel they are entitled to sneak in and find their public figure." Will explained. "I will not lie to you, my love, things are going to get much worse before they ever get better."

"You think things are going to get that much worse?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.

"We're staying at Pemberly for that very reason. I need to know that you are absolutely safe. Derbyshire is not immune to the press, but you will be relatively safe here. Safer than London, anyway. I'm having Kirk double check the gate, make sure all the security works well. If I so much as see one photographer, I'll sue every paper in the country and win." Will replied. "I will keep you protected at all costs."

"What about you?" She asked, touching his cheek gently.

"I'll be right here, worrying about you." He replied, kissing her hand. "Let's get you back in bed."

"How long are Jane and Charles staying?" Elizabeth asked as Will scooped her up.

"Until after your New York trip." He nodded. "Charles and I will entertain each other here while you are gone."

"I thought you were joining us in New York." Elizabeth said as he put her down.

"Yes. I know. But Charles and I have so much work to do with this law and besides, you need a girl's trip. It'll be fun." Will smiled at her. "But you must promise me not to go off alone. Promise to always stay with the bodyguards and promise to call me every day."

"Will. I'm a big girl. Getting bigger every day." She replied. "Besides, I don't leave for another week."

"Please, Lizzie, do this for me." Will begged, resting his forehead on hers. "I am not above begging."

"Okay." She acquiesced, smiling. "But only because you threatened to beg."

Note: Title comes from Shakespeare's _Much Ado About Nothing_


	2. Chapter 2

"Duke, down!" Elizabeth Darcy ordered the large dog as she made her way through the seemingly endless house. In the early days of Pemberly, all of these rooms would be maintained so that entire households could be guests. They were opened up to use as rooms for Georgiana and her roommates plus when Kitty and Mary arrived, they would need more rooms. And one of them would have to eventually become a nursery; she just had not picked one yet. That could be done later, what she really wanted to find was a suitcase. Sometime between the move to London and back, her favorite carry-on bag had been put away…somewhere. Instead of buying a new one, Lizzie decided to go on a hunt. So far, she had covered half the house and had not found it. If Mrs. Reynolds, Jane, Sara or Will knew she was doing this, they would scold her and send her back to rest. And as she could not go anywhere in the house without Duke following her, they checked the rooms together. Or rather, she checked and he got in her way.

"Duke, go lay down!" Elizabeth was rapidly becoming frustrated with the dog. It was because of him that she was pregnant (he ate her birth control pills) and because Will had told the dog to protect her. Duke was really taking that command a bit too seriously.

"Lady Darcy!" One of Georgiana's roommates, Kaitlyn, burst out the door of her room and nearly tackled Elizabeth. "I didn't see you! Are you okay?"

"I will be fine when you call me Lizzie and not Lady Darcy." Elizabeth smiled. "What's the rush?"

"No rush…I was just going to visit Georgiana. We're having girl time. Why don't you join us?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Of course." Elizabeth shrugged. Girl time sounded infinitely more fun than hunting for a suitcase. "As long as you don't mind my shadow."

"Not at all. Which one is this?" Kaitlyn asked, patting Duke affectionately.

"Duke." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "He's been a pain in my side for a while now."

"Oh. Was he the one who ate the birth control pills?" Kaitlyn laughed.

"Yes." Lizzie nodded. At first, she had been furious at Duke, she was only 22, and really not ready to be a mother. Now that she had been pregnant for nearly four months, it was starting to be a blessing. Plus, Darcy was her slave. All she had to do was say the baby wanted something and he could not get it fast enough. And the dog had been one of the most amusing things for about a week afterwards. Clearly, hormones and dogs do not mix.

"Good! Grab a seat and a polish." Georgiana grinned, welcoming the other two in.

"Oh! Now that you're here, we have to know how you and Lord Darcy met." Another roommate, Tara, exclaimed. "The way you two act, it has to be SO romantic."

"Would you believe I hated him and he tried to forget me?" Elizabeth asked, smiling.

"I don't think you ever could have hated him." Kaitlyn shook her head. "It's just not possible."

"It was…a lot of things. Mostly, I was wrong about him, and he was acting like the aloof, prideful person…he is a tough man to get to open up. When he asked me out the first time, he listed all the reasons why we shouldn't be together. Of course, I was insulted, and thought that he was a jerk…but I was really attracted to him." Elizabeth said. "After he insulted me and asked me out in the same breath, I turned him down, yelled at him and he followed me, apologized, and I decided to give him another chance. We only broke up once and that was because we had some relationship issues. The rest is history."

"You should really hear about Jane and Charles." Georgiana grinned. "Tell us, Lizzie! You tell such good stories."

"If I must…though Jane will be very mad that she was shopping and missed this…" Elizabeth sighed dramatically, and then smiled. "Jane and Charles…we were at a club opening, and Charles and his sisters and Will had all just arrived in town, and every woman in the place was after them because they were rich, good looking men. Jane and I swore to each other that we would never let the other marry for money, not that we wanted to. We wanted to marry for love and nothing less. Well, we were dancing, and Jane looked up and saw Charles and he saw her. I swear, their eyes met and she gasped. He asked her to dance, and they were together all night. As soon as we came home that night, Jane was on cloud nine. According to Will, the night of the costume ball, which was just weeks after they first met, Charles declared that he was going to marry Jane. By then, I could already tell that she was completely in love with him as well. I actually witnessed love at first sight."

"You don't think you and Will were?" Georgiana asked.

"No. He thought I was…acceptable." Elizabeth laughed. "But he was just trying to convince himself that he didn't like me. I was very attracted to him until I heard him say that."

The other girls giggled at that. Then Elizabeth heard a loud crack and a few shouts.

"Wait here." She instructed, getting up and leaving, Duke following faithfully behind her.

Mrs. Reynolds met her at the door, the field foreman Joseph right behind her. He was a big, burly, scary looking man. He was actually a pushover and a teddy bear, but his presence just inspired fear.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked. "Was that a gunshot?"

"We don't know. It came from the west wall." Mrs. Reynolds shrugged. "Please stay here, Ma'am."

"This is my home and I will not have it threatened by anyone." Elizabeth said determined. "I promise to stay behind Joseph."

"I don't like this, my Lady, not when Lord Darcy's in town and not here. It's strange timing." Joseph shook his head. "You stay a safe distance away."

"Let's go." Mrs. Reynolds nodded.

The west wall was quiet; the field was recovering, so no one was really over in that area on a regular basis, except for the guard.

"Marshall!" Joseph called. There was no reply, but there was a strange pile of something on the ground by the wall.

Elizabeth got a sinking feeling in her stomach. That meant someone was on the property, and it was so large, that finding someone before they did anything was next to impossible.

"Here sir." Robert Marshall ran up, gun in hand. "Sorry about the disturbance. Someone tried to get in."

"Over the wall?" Elizabeth asked. "Was it a photographer?"

"Reporter." Marshall sighed. "I didn't want to shoot her. She wouldn't stop. She had a gun…I didn't mean to hurt her."

"What is wrong with these people?" Elizabeth asked. "Joseph, please call the police and the ambulance. Marshall, confiscate her camera any notes and have the police search her for any hidden devices. You did not do anything wrong. Mrs. Reynolds, if you would please stay here and explain everything to the police when they come."

"Of course." Mrs. Reynolds looked at the wounded reporter with disgust.

"Yes ma'am." Marshall nodded.

"Joseph, get Lady Darcy back to the house." Mrs. Reynolds said gently.

Elizabeth was shocked. She had kept a cool head, but now that it was over, she thought about it all. That reporter had come on to the property with a gun. A gun! And this was part of the freedom of the press? That was breaking and entering with a deadly weapon, trespassing and attempted assault just to get a picture. It all seemed a bit much. Then she realized she had left Georgiana and her roommates without any explanation. Masking her own fear, she put on a brave face and returned to the house.

"It's all right, girls." Elizabeth smiled, walking back into Georgiana's room. "Just an overexcited guard. What other stories do you want to hear?"

"After you got together…how long before you knew you were in love?" Tara asked.

"Well, Will swears up and down that he loved me from our first kiss, however, he didn't tell me until…just before the Queen's ball. It took me a little longer to say it back, but then, Will is nearly ten years older than me." Elizabeth shrugged. "My sister had to point it out to me. I think…I think I knew from the moment we kissed for the second time, after I'd discovered that he wasn't an enormous prick, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him."

"Then you're almost our age!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

"Only a little older, yes." Elizabeth nodded.

"Isn't that weird? I mean, isn't he more…experienced? More mature?" Tara asked.

"I don't want to hear this. I'm going downstairs to get sodas. I'll bring up a bunch." Georgiana got up and left.

"Well, in terms of relationships…serious relationships, Will was more experienced. The age…it never seems to matter. It only comes up now when we are teasing each other. Though, I have to say I wanted to be a little older than 22 before I got pregnant. I blame him. And the dog." Elizabeth said, mock indignantly. "Some things, like age, only matter if it's a problem, like a serious maturity barrier or the partner will die soon."

"Can I uncover my ears now?" Georgiana asked, coming in with an armful of soda and holding her ears (a very funny sight, Elizabeth thought).

"Yes, my dear, you may." Elizabeth grinned. A voice came from downstairs, it sounded like Will, but she must have been hearing things. He was not due home for hours.

"Lizzie!" It came again, though it was much more in insistent and worried. "Lizzie!"

"Will." Elizabeth grinned and raced out the door. He met her bounding up the stairs, his face contorted with fear. "You're home early."

"I saw the sirens heading to Pemberly. What happened?" He asked, holding her close. "I was so worried. I thought something had happened to you and the baby."

"Nothing to worry about." Elizabeth said, nodding her head at the open door of Georgiana's room. "Come on."

"So what happened?" Will asked once they were inside their apartments.

"A photographer tried to get on the property. She tripped the sensors and Marshall went to check it out. She was armed, and wouldn't stop, so he shot her in the leg." Elizabeth sat on the couch watching him pace. "I can't believe someone would come here armed just to get a picture!"

That worried Darcy. Hopefully it was just an overzealous reporter, but if this was the way the rags would be operating now, then something had to be done. While they had gotten quite good at evading the press, it was still a major concern. He honestly missed the days when they could go for a ride around the property and not worry about photographers ruining a perfectly romantic moment. But they were the "it" couple now that Posh and Beckham had gone overseas. Jane and Charles received a similar treatment. And because he and Charles were best friends and they had married sisters, they became second only to the royal family when it came to be photographed. And it was only going to get worse.

"If word gets out that you're pregnant, it will be much worse." Will sighed, sitting next to her. "She was armed?"

"Turns out the gun wasn't loaded, but how was Marshall supposed to know that?" Elizabeth shook her head. "And I can hide being pregnant. Right now I just look fat."

"You are not fat, my dear. You are carrying the most beautiful thing in the world." He kissed her cheek gently, his hand resting on her belly. "Besides, I think you are beautiful."

"You have to say that, you're my husband." She rolled her eyes, but he knew his words meant something. "I don't know…I just…I feel like I'm not ready. I know, Will, you are very ready, but a little over a year ago, I was planning on just getting married or working on my career. Becoming a mother was not in the plan."

"I know. But, Lizzie, dogs do not just eat birth control pills." Will smiled, and Elizabeth remembered raging at the dog and him convincing her that she would be fine going a few days without them. Clearly, that had not been the case. "Besides, you could never be a bad mother. Look at how well you've adjusted to being married to me. I mean, that was a big, new step for you and I think it's worked out wonderfully."

"Being a mother is just so intimidating, though." Elizabeth leaned against him and sighed. "And today…it was like that business with Wickham all over again. I was so afraid…I cannot believe someone would come with a gun. I mean, what if it had been loaded? What if someone got hurt?"

"You were very brave." Will pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."

"As long as you push that law through." Elizabeth clung too him, tears falling softly. "I forgive you."

"No my darling, don't cry. You know I can't stand that." He kissed her forehead. "Come now, let's get to bed."


	3. Chapter 3

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Author's Note: Okay, so I realize that the attacking press is a bit unbelievable. But I really thought it was an interesting dramatic idea, so bear with me and accept the ridiculous for the duration of the story. Thank you for reading! Enjoy!

"Oh no. Jane, I can't do this." Elizabeth groaned, looking at herself in the mirror. "You can tell! It doesn't just look like water weight, I am clearly pregnant." 

"Well, if you don't want them to know, then wear this." Jane threw a cotton top at her sister. "It isn't really your style, but it will hide the fact that you're pregnant." 

"Jane, this is serious. If anyone knows, we'll never get anything done in the US, and Will and I will never get a peaceful moment." Elizabeth shook her head, looking at the top. Usually, she thought these sort of clothes were unflattering, especially on her small frame, because they made her look pregnant, but in this case, it would do the job. Now she just needed a week's worth of similar tops and she needed them before the plane took off in two hours.

"My Lady, we must leave soon." Sara poked her head in. "Have you decided what you want packed?" 

"No." Elizabeth crossed her arms, annoyed with herself. "Sara, please pack anything you think will disguise the fact that I'm pregnant without actually looking terrible." 

"Yes Mum." Sara bobbed a quick curtsy and headed for the closet. 

"Lizzie, you don't have to go, you know." Jane sat her sister down on the couch. "You can come with Charles and Will for the gala on Friday." 

"No. I planned this with you and I want to see it through. Besides, I want some alone time with my sister." Elizabeth smiled. "Ignore me. I'm a bit hormonal and I don't feel comfortable going out in public like this." 

"Well, we have a surprise for you." Jane grinned. "Sara, bring her in." 

The ladies maid (actually, Elizabeth's assistant, hairdresser, stylist and friend all rolled into one) led in a very familiar woman. 

"Maria!" Elizabeth jumped up to great the older woman. "Oh, how wonderful! How are you?"

"Well, my dear. Oh, I haven't seen you glow this much since your wedding." Maria smiled. "I cannot stay, I have a show in a few hours, but I wanted to deliver this to you personally." 

An assistant brought out a beautiful green dress, designed with an empire waist to hide Elizabeth's delicate condition. It's graceful design was beautiful, as all Maria's work tended to be, but also fashionable.

"I know it cannot be easy when you are trying to hide something. I wish you luck. I donated the proceeds from this dress to your reading program-it is a lovely idea. I will see you ladies soon!" And with that, Maria was gone. 

"Oh, it's so lovely." Elizabeth examined the dress. "She does such beautiful work." 

"I know, it's very pretty. And I would love to admire the dress too, Lizzie, but we leave in twenty minutes for the airport. Get dressed so you can say a private goodbye to your husband!" Jane smiled, urging her sister on. 

"Right." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Then you get out and go say goodbye to your husband!"

The airport was crowded, and the photographers made it even worse. They had clearly been waiting all day for the sisters to arrive. Will was not excited to see them. He had hoped that by choppering in directly to Heathrow that no one would know they flew out from there. Somehow, the location was leaked, and a hundred press-badge carrying photographers and reporters were snapping pictures and firing questions, nearly trampling everyone else at the airport that were merely trying to get on their respective flights. Will held tightly to his wife's small hand, shielding her as best he could from the 

press. Despite her slightly protruding belly, Elizabeth could still hide behind him relatively well. 

"This is a madhouse!" Charles groaned. "Darcy, either we push that law through or I'm moving to some island in the Caribbean!" 

"We'll move right along with you." Will nodded. 

"Lord Darcy, is it true that Lady Darcy is ill?" One reporter screamed. 

"Lady Darcy, have you been in hiding because you put on weight?" Another reporter asked. 

"Follow me please, sir." A voice said and they were soon surrounded by not only their bodyguards (both of whom would be traveling to the US) but airport security as well. They escorted the group through the metal detectors quickly and managed to get them into the secure area of the airport. 

"Thank goodness." Jane sighed, sitting gracefully down in one of the lounge chairs, her husband plopping down beside her. 

"Are you all right?" Will Darcy gave his wife a concerned look, she was rather pale. "Elizabeth?"

"I wasn't expecting the questions, that's all." Elizabeth shook her head. "Especially when they asked me if I was in hiding because I'd gained weight." 

"You are beautiful, Lizzie. Don't worry about them. We will beat this." Will held her close. "Do you want me to come?" 

"Of course I do, but you need to stay here and work on that law." Elizabeth sighed. "But you'll be out Friday, right?"

"Yes. Ready to take you to the gala." He grinned. "Now, promise me. Swear on our child that you will not leave the bodyguards and wander off." 

"I swear, my love. I will be very careful." She said, rolling her eyes. "I have no intention of wandering around New York alone. Though I am going to pay a visit to Harriet." 

"Give her my best." Will nodded, leaning in to kiss her gently. "I love you. Safe flight."

"It's time to go?" Elizabeth asked.

"Didn't you just hear them say First Class now boarding?" He grinned at her. "Call me when you land and be safe."

"I will. I love you too." She kissed him again and gathered her bag, blowing him one last kiss before she disappeared.

"Charles, this is ridiculous. They can't expect us to agree to this." Darcy threw down the lawyer's report who was representing the press. "That gives them almost no boundaries. And there is not a single decent penalty in there. No, we must absolutely refuse this proposal."

"To push this through, we're going to have to compromise." Charles rubbed his forehead. "What if we slacked our penalties and made them into fines? But make the photographer and the paper two different entities. That way, you can fine the photographer who took the pictures, then fine the magazine. I feel like that would discourage them a little bit more. And fines are more lenient than jail time. And we will loosen the restrictions on off-limits locations." 

"Is there no other way?" Will asked. 

He and Charles had been pouring over reports and analysis for the past four days. They were to leave for New York in two and it would be great to have a proposal ready before then, so that there would not be a shadow hanging over their time with their wives. 

Before Darcy could continue, his phone rang, and it was Jane calling. "Hi Jane, Charles is right here."

"No. I need to talk to you." Jane's voice quivered, as if she were holding back tears. "It's Lizzie."

"What happened?" Will Darcy's stomach dropped. He knew, from the tone of Jane's voice, that it was bad. "Is she okay?"

"She and Harriet went out to dinner, on their way back a drunk driver or a photographer, they're not sure which, hit them. They're both in the hospital, Will, you need to get here now." 

"We'll be on the next flight." He nodded and hung up. His face was a mixture of fear and rage.

"What's happened?" Charles asked, worried.

"Lizzie was in a wreck, she's at the hospital." Will said, the fear settling in. "We've got to go, now." 

"I'll drive, you call the airport on the way there." Charles nodded and they ran out. 

The 7-hour flight, to William Darcy, seemed to last 70 hours. The movie they showed only heightened his fear. It seemed a car crashed in the movie every few minutes, and each time, his stomach dropped further and further. 

"I wish this damn plane would land." He sighed, looking at his watch for the fourth time that hour. 

"We're less than an hour out. Lizzie's strong, she'll be fine." Charles tried his best to calm his friend down. He had never seen Darcy this agitated before; the man was barely hanging onto his composure. "And I'm sure Harriet is okay too."

Harriet! Will had completely forgotten she was in the wreck too. Jane had not said anything other than Harriet was also at the hospital. He felt like an ass for not remembering her, but his thoughts were so consumed by the lives of his wife and the baby. 

As soon as they landed, Will had his phone out, calling a car. "I need it to meet us in the airport in ten minutes and then go straight to the hospital. We don't have any luggage." 

"Yes sir." The company controller seemed to understand his haste and ignored the slight rudeness of his call. "A car will be waiting for you, and we will have you at the hospital in no time."

"Attention passengers, the gate we were scheduled to pull into has had a minor emergency with a passenger. As a result, we cannot get to our gate, we will have to wait until a nearby gate is available, so just sit tight, we'll have you out of here soon." The first officer's voice sounded a bit annoyed, but reassuring. 

"I can't wait for some emergency! I have an emergency." Will exclaimed and got up. He headed right for the front of the first class cabin and gabbed a flight attendant's arm. "Ma'am, I need to get off this plane right now. My wife was in a car accident and she is in the hospital, I have no idea if she is okay, and she is pregnant with our first child. I don't care how you get me off, just get me out of here." 

"Sir, you're going to have to sit down and wait like everyone else. I'm sure it will not be long." The attendant smiled sweetly. 

At that moment, Will was so desperate, he did something he had never done before. He bribed her. He grasped her hand and slipped a hundred dollar bill in it. "Is there nothing you can do to help me?" 

"I'm sorry sir." She pocketed the money. "Let me write down a number for you, so you can call customer service, sir." 

Will took the piece of paper and sat down slowly, angrily. She had taken his money and all she had given him was a phone number. Oh, he would call it all right; he would use all his power to see that she was…wait. That was no phone number, that was a note. 

"To get off, pretend to have some sort of seizure due to claustrophobia or something. I'll get you an ambulance and get you to the hospital quickly." The note read, the girl's handwriting neat and even despite how quickly she had scribbled the note. 

Will handed the note to Charles so he would understand, and drawing on all his grade-school acting abilities, he began to shake. 

"Someone! Someone help!" Charles called, putting in an excellent performance. "He's…I think he's having a seizure."

"Calm down sir. Sir. Can you hear me?" The same attendant who had told him to do this checked his pulse. "Sir, does your friend have any allergies? His pulse is erratic." 

"No. He doesn't like confined spaces…he's fine when the plane is moving, but…you have to help him!" Charles exclaimed.

Darcy continued to convulse, but he was becoming tired. They had to move him soon or he would be in trouble.

"Call one of those ambulances over here!" The attendant called. 

A minute later, a few paramedics climbed on from the open emergency hatch and took the still twitching Darcy to the ambulance. As soon as he was in the vehicle, he relaxed. Now it was just a matter of paying off the EMTs. They were easily bribed, once he explained the situation and gave them all a good sum of money, and they raced him to the emergency room. 

"Where is Elizabeth Darcy?" He asked the front desk.

"No. No press." The woman replied, exasperated. "Can't you leave the poor woman alone?"

"I'm not press, dammit, I'm her husband." Will pounded the desk with his fist, causing the receptionist to look up.

"Lord Darcy, I'm so sorry! Please. Katie, take Lord Darcy to his wife." She grabbed the nearest nurse, who nodded and led Will through a maze of similar looking hallways until they reached the woman's health level. The nurse opened a door to reveal Elizabeth laying in bed, staring listlessly out the window, Jane asleep in a chair, and a Doctor looking over the chart.

"What happened? Is she okay?" Will asked the Doctor.

"Come with me, Mr. Darcy." The Doctor said, something about the way she said it made his heart race. It was not going to be good news.

"Where's Harriet? How's Lizzie?" Will was concerned. 

"Mrs. Darcy is faring well, all things considered. She has a broken arm, several cuts and contusions, and a major wound on her back that required many stitches. She lost a lot of blood and she's in a great deal of physical and emotional pain."

"The baby?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"He's physically fine, he lost a lot of blood flow, but his heartbeat is strong, we won't know until he's born to see if there were any lasting effects on the baby. He could have serious brain damage or he could be fine, we have no way of knowing. Your wife is in a great deal of pain; she may not be able to return home. The accident is going to affect Elizabeth when she gives birth, it will be much more painful and dangerous, but both of them should survive." The Doctor gave him a sad smile. "Right now she needs company."

Will nodded and walked back into the room. Lizzie had drifted off and Jane was still snoozing, so he felt safe to slide down against the wall and cry. The stress of the day was too much for one man to handle, and when the doctor had taken him aside, he had feared the worst. It was nearly an hour later when Charles arrived and found him that way. Jane woke when he entered and led him into the hall, allowing the Darcy's some private time. Will was dimly aware of all this, it simply held no meaning to him. 

"Will?" Elizabeth's voice was weak, but he was sure he heard it. "Did they tell you?"

He got up and knelt by her bedside, level with her face. "Tell me what?"

"Harriet…she…she didn't make it." Elizabeth whispered.

Will's tears started anew, "What?" 

"Harriet didn't make it." Elizabeth repeated, her lips quivering.

"Harriet…oh god…she…" He wiped his tears, Will just could not believe it. Harriet could not be gone.

"I'm sorry, my love." Tears welled in her soft doe eyes. "She never did anything mean to anyone. She just can't be gone." 

Will was not far from crying again himself, and seeing her like this cut his already broken heart even more. He climbed into the bed, careful not to disturb the IVs and her various injuries, and held her while they both cried. 


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry, exams zero time. I'll try to post the next few chapters faster. 

Elizabeth stayed in the hospital for three more days, then she was sent home with strict instructions to call an ambulance for anything, just in case they missed an internal injury. Will used his time to straighten out Harriet's will, fly Mrs. Reynolds and several others over from England, and attend the funeral. Despite being rather worse for wear and saddened at the loss of a dear, dear friend, both Elizabeth and Will still felt the need to go to the charity gala for the New York Public Library. The reading program created by Jane and Elizabeth was to be honored at this gala, and they both felt that their presence was necessary.

Elizabeth donned her beautiful green dress, smiling for the first time in days. Will was having a harder time, as he was closer to Harriet than Elizabeth.

"You don't have to go, you know." She said softly, sitting in his lap.

"I need to. I want to. Harriet would never have abided me sitting and sulking. She would tell me to get up, get dressed, and take the woman I love out for a great night. She'd want me to laugh, she'd want me to live." Will sighed. "I'm just having a hard time grasping that concept."

"Well, celebrate her life. She loved the reading program, and tonight, Harry Winston will announce that they are planning on building a new children's wing in the New York Public Library and naming it the Harriet Reynolds Center. She would be honored beyond belief, so lets celebrate that." Elizabeth kissed him gently. "And thank God for keeping the baby safe through all of this."

"That is true. Now, let me look at you." Will smiled and she hopped off his lap, turning slowly for him. "Beautiful."

"You can almost not tell that I'm pregnant." She shrugged.

It did not matter now, the whole world knew. Will sighed, in his worried state, he had not requested that the hospital sign a confidentiality agreement, so two days later, it came out in all the papers that Lady Darcy was pregnant. At first, he was furious, but now he was glad, because Elizabeth no longer stressed about hiding her belly.

"There is nothing wrong with you being pregnant. It is perfectly natural and wonderful and I think you look beautiful. I might be a bit biased." Will sighed. He was patient, his sister had warned him about the whole hormone thing, but it was difficult to be patient when she was like this.

"Have you seen the rags this morning?" Elizabeth asked casually.

Caught. His darling, beautiful young wife had finally realized that he was trying to keep her from seeing the magazines. She was _not_ happy about it either. Fortunately, one of those starlets Americans worship-Lindsay or Brittany or something-was arrested again, so Elizabeth was not the big story this week. They had not forgotten her, but she was not the entire magazine. He needed to protect her right now, it was his way of dealing.

"No, I haven't seen them this morning. Anything about me?" Will tried to play dumb. It probably was not going to work, but it was worth a shot.

"Take a look." Elizabeth tossed the magazine at him.

Yep. She was pissed. And he was in big trouble, trouble he was not likely to get out of soon. She would not show it, she would be a loving, supportive wife because he just lost a close friend, but there was no mistaking it: she was angry.

"Lizzie. Do not be angry with me. Chalk it up to fear rearing its ugly head and making me do stupid things. I almost lost you." Will dropped the magazine on the floor. Elizabeth's face stared up at him from the rag with a big headline reading: "Lady Darcy-How Young is Too Young?". He walked over to her and hugged her close.

"I forgive you. Just remember that I'm a bit hormonal right now." She smiled at him.

"Come my love, or we'll be late." He nodded, turning to grab something out of his bag. "I have a present for you."

"A present?" Elizabeth perked up.

Will had rescued a few things from Harriet's estate sale, among them an antique locket he would give to a daughter, if he ever had one, a few pieces of furniture and a few books that Harriet prized for Mrs. Reynolds, and a beautiful diamond necklace for Lizzie. He smiled and draped it around her neck.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Will." She kissed him gently. "Who made it?"

"Harriet. It was one of her own designs. I saved a few of them from the estate sale." He explained. "Now come on, or we shall be late. And then who would they honor?"

Elizabeth Darcy had never been comfortable with the press. She knew, marrying Will, that it was a fact of life, but she had not realized what that meant. Now she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, it was a huge part of their lives. At least, when they went out in public. It was best to just face them.

They left the car to the sound of "Lady Elizabeth! Lord Darcy!" and the thousands of questions that followed. They simply smiled and made their way to the door, pausing to answer a few more serious questions.

"Lady Elizabeth, after the death of noted designer Harriet Reynolds, who is going to provide your jewelry?" One reporter asked. Elizabeth stopped Will and turned to the offensive reporter.

"Harriet was a great friend, and I will miss her dearly. She was much more than a jewelry designer, she was an incredible woman and an incredible designer." Elizabeth replied politely, and the reporter looked disappointed.

"Lady Darcy! How much money was raised for the program?" Another (more respectable) reporter called.

She was happy to answer those questions, and overturn any ridiculous rumors. The most painful questions involved the accident and Harriet's death. They finally made it inside, grateful to escape the press.

"At this point, I'm willing to pay David Beckham to come back to England just to get them to stop." Will sighed, kissing her hand gently. "Come on, let's get inside."

It was always strange, entering an event after surviving the "red carpet" press questions. The roar of activity just stopped and it was very, very quiet. Or seemingly so, after the noise of reporters shouting non-stop questions and cameras clicking every second.

"Are you okay?" Will asked, clearly concerned.

"I am fine, Will. A few pictures will not hurt the baby." Elizabeth smiled at him. "You must relax, darling, I'm pregnant, not an invalid. Women do this all the time, and most of them survive just fine."

"I'll try, but no promises."

"That's all I ask. Let's find Jane."

"I believe she found us." Will pointed to a blond-haired woman clad in a beautiful blue gown come bounding at them.

"Oh Lizzie! I'm so glad you're okay and up and about. We have not seen you since the funeral, you barely look scratched. You look gorgeous! How are you feeling?" Jane's effervescent personality was a little more over the top than usual, which made Will suspicious.

"Jane. What happened?" Elizabeth asked. Clearly, her sister did not fool her either.

"I'm such a terrible liar. We really have two problems. The entire cast from the lifetime movie is here, they want to meet the people they are playing, and one of the women has Wickham as her date." Jane sighed.

"What?" Will was furious, his grip on Elizabeth's hand tightened painfully.

"Will, relax, you're hurting me." Elizabeth said gently and he did, but only slightly. "Well, this is a surprise. We will just hold our heads high and avoid them."

"This is the man who killed Kyle! Who kidnapped you and threatened to rape you and would have killed you too if we had not spoiled his and Caroline's plans! And you want me to be polite? No, Lizzie, I draw the line somewhere, and I will have him removed from the premises." Darcy tried to walk away, but Elizabeth pulled him back to her.

"Do not. You will regret making a scene. Jane, would you kindly call the New York Police department, inform them that we may have a parolee who may be in the country illegally. If they could come and take care of it discretely, we would be very grateful." Elizabeth asked calmly and her sister nodded. "As for the cast of that terrible movie, I would rather like to meet them, so they know we are not as bad as we seem."

Will marveled at her, he knew what that whole ordeal had done to her; in fact, she still woke up some nights sobbing because of a nightmare. And here she was, handling this entire situation, like, well, like a Lady.

"Do me one favor. Let's not go in until the police have arrived." He asked.

"Of course." Elizabeth nodded. "What will we do to pass the time?"

"I can think of a few things." Will grinned putting his arms around her and pulling her close.

"Ma'am, you requested we call the police? Is everything okay?" The event head came running up, clearly worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes. One of the gentlemen who came with a guest has had previous violent dealings with my sister and her husband; he is also in violation of his parole and is in the country illegally. If you could remove him to a separate room and contact the authorities, we would be most grateful." Jane said politely to the woman. "His name is Wickham, he's here with Julie Renior."

"It will be done at once, if you would all wait here, I will send someone to take you a back path to the hall and let you enter it only when conditions are suitable. I apologize for this, if we had known…" She replied. "Again, I apologize, and someone will be here shortly."

"Well handled, my dear." Charles smiled at his darling wife.

"You know, there was a day when your arms would go a lot further around me." Elizabeth sighed.

"And there will be a day like that again." Will rested his forehead on hers. "But you, my darling, are carrying my entire life, my entire plan for the future, my reason for being, aside from yourself, in that lovely stomach."

"Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Make it so hard for me to complain." Elizabeth grinned and he kissed her gently.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my sister and I cannot thank you enough for coming and for your gracious donations. I especially would like to thank Mr. Harry Winston, who, by matching your donations, has paved the way for a new wing of the New York Public Library. Harriet Reynolds was one of the premier jewelers working under the great and talented diamond master Harry Winston, she donated a great deal of time and money to the International Children's Reading Fund, and it was a great dream of hers to see this wing of the New York Public Library come to fruition. As many of you know, Harriet passed away in a car accident recently, her life, her talent as a jeweler, her giving personality, but most of all her kind and generous heart will be greatly missed. In honor of her life, and as a result of your hard work and generous donations, the Harriet Reynolds Children's Wing will break ground next month."

Elizabeth smiled and waited for the polite cheers to settle. "Again, we cannot thank you enough. It is because of you that children in both the United States and the United Kingdom will continue to advance the joy and pleasure of reading. If all goes as planned, we will soon have branches of the foundation all over the globe, ensuring that every child, in every language, can read as well as inspiring children to chose books instead of video games, television, or movies, at least, on occasion."

That produced a few laughs and Elizabeth smiled.

"Children are our future, and we much give them the best possible chance. Now I turn things over to our entertainment for the evening. R&B artist Grace Montana has graciously agreed to play for us this evening, I've heard her work and I'm sure we will all enjoy it. Ladies and Gentlemen, Grace Montana."

Elizabeth walked off the stage into the waiting arms of her husband.

"Do you want to mingle more or is it time to go?" Will asked.

"I'll get Jane to make polite excuses for me." Elizabeth smiled.

"Excuse me, Jane?" Elizabeth walked over to her sister, who was having a chat with one of the _Lifetime_ movie actresses.

"Oh, Lizzie, let me introduce Erin Yates, the actress who plays you, interestingly enough." Jane smiled.

"Pleased to meet you Miss Yates." Elizabeth smiled politely.

"And you, Lady Darcy. May I say it was a pleasure to play you, such a strong woman but so young as well. And my I also offer my congratulations, from what I can tell from reading about you, you'll be a great mother." Erin shook Elizabeth's hand. "And for as trashy as that script was, I tried to play you with as much class as possible, because that seemed more like your character."

"Thank you." Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised at the young actress. She seemed genuine and sweet. "I'm afraid I have to go, but next time I'm in New York or you're in London, contact me, I would love to have tea or lunch with you, Erin."

"You're leaving so soon?" Jane asked.

"Yes. I'm exhausted. I get tired very quickly now, unfortunately." Elizabeth replied. "Pleasure to meet you. Jane, I will see you later. Goodnight."

Elizabeth made her way back to a waiting Darcy and they walked out to the cloakroom hand in hand.

"I've already summoned a car, it will be waiting for us." He smiled.

"Thank goodness. All I want to do is put on my sweats and curl up in bed with a movie." She sighed.

"Can we at least pick a movie that is not a romantic comedy?" Will asked.

"Maybe." Elizabeth grinned. "Maybe not."

The press was worse going out then it had been going in. The respectable fashion and newspaper press had since left, leaving behind only the paparazzi, and it was as if the barricades were non-existent. The photographers and reporters leaned over as far as they could, snapping pictures and asking all sorts of questions. Most of them were harmless, but one reporter shouted something Elizabeth never thought she would hear.

"The police took a man out earlier claiming that he was your lover and that the baby is his. Any response to this, Lady Darcy? Did you know she was cheating on you Lord Darcy?" One of the reporters asked.

Will stopped and turned to the photographer with a look on his face that would have sent anyone in England running for cover. This man was clearly new, because the other paparazzi around him were backing away.

"You have overstepped your bounds. How dare you take the word of a rapist and murderer like Wickham over a kind and charitable Lady? Apologize. Now." The last word resounded through the crowd and the man who asked the question held up his hands.

"Hey, man, question retracted." He said.

"I do not think you heard me." Will grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him close. "Apologize to Lady Darcy, and if you so much as print a word of this, I will, I promise you, make you regret you ever picked up a camera."

The man gulped. "S-s-sorry. Both of you."

Will let him go and walked back over to where Elizabeth stood waiting, stunned slightly. She had only on rare occasions seen him this angry with anyone. He had never lost his temper with a reporter before; they were just usually treated with cold disdain. Most of the paparazzi had enough respect for, or at least fear of, Lord Darcy. He was the de facto leader of the young, powerful politicians and Lords in England. Some even spoke of him eventually becoming Prime Minister, but that was not what he wanted in life. At least, not yet. And to top it all off, the public absolutely adored the couple; so pissing off Lord Darcy was not on anyone's to-do list.

"Will, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked as they waited for the car to pull up. She sometimes forgot just how physically powerful he was.

"I am fine." He raised their held hands, kissing hers gently. "But I will not stand to have the love of my life insulted."

Elizabeth smiled up at him. "Thank you, gallant sir. I'm glad I have you here to manhandle the reporters. I don't think they'd take me seriously if I threatened them."

At that, Will laughed. Leave it to Elizabeth to find a way to get him back in a good mood. He was still laughing as he helped her in the car and slid in next to her. The photographers were snapping pictures wildly, the Darcy's never let their guard down in public, never kissed, and they were very formal. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and every photographer there was determined to capture the moment.

Will always thought Elizabeth looked beautiful. On nights like tonight, when she was wearing a beautiful gown, with pretty make-up and jewelry, he thought she looked like a princess, and deservedly so. But he thought she was the most beautiful lounging around in her favorite stretchy black pants, a tank top and his old school sweatshirt or her college sweatshirt, her hair up in a ponytail, no make up, and sometimes a stretchy hair band. Despite all her fashionable clothes, this is what she still loved to lounge around in, and it was still his favorite thing to see her in. Especially when she was lying there, cuddled up against him as they watched a movie.

They lay sideways across the bed; she had her back to him, but was snuggled up close. Will had his arm draped around her, gently stroking her ever-growing belly. He had even won the movie battle, as they settled for a somewhat science fiction movie with a little humor, a little romance, and a few things exploding.

"Why can't life always be like this?" Elizabeth sighed. "This is perfect."

"I promise you, we have an entire lifetime to find moments like these. They will not be rare." Will smiled.

"Once the baby comes, they will be." She pointed out.

"For a while, sure. But then we'll just have to add another body to this serenity, and we'll be watching Disney movies instead of stuff like this." He countered. "But all children have to sleep, so we'll find time."

"Time, I've learned, is something none of us are guaranteed." Elizabeth said softly.

"So we make each day count." Will looked at her curiously. This was a switch, usually she was the one cheering him up and seeing the light in every darkness, but now it was his turn. But he had not been there, she had. She had seen death first hand, and that was on top of the trauma she was still dealing with, in some capacity, from the whole Caroline ordeal. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm just…now I understand why you've always been so cold to the press. I'm so tired of being the good, polite Lady…I wanted to take a swing at that reporter tonight…its like I've created this persona for the press…and I feel like I can't escape it and be…me." She sighed. "Is that strange?"

"No. Not at all." He smiled softly; glad it was not anything too traumatic. "Look, we fly out tomorrow afternoon, I have to stay in London a few days, but then session ends and we have an entire month of vacation. We can spend our days sleeping in, riding, I'll take your uncle fishing while you and your aunt go shopping…we'll spend a rainy day curled up on the sofa in our bedroom watching movies…you'll feel like yourself again. I promise."

The next morning, they both slept in. Around nine, Will got out of bed, careful not to disturb Elizabeth, and went downstairs to pick up coffee and the magazines. He half expected his threatening face to cover the magazines; instead, it was a moment he had not realized was caught on camera. Well, his PR guy would be ecstatic, but William Darcy was not. It almost felt as though his privacy had been invaded. The kiss on the hand was a private, personal thing between them, he had not realized when he had done it that everyone was watching. One article was entitled "The Softer Side of Lord Darcy" and included a juxtaposition of him and Elizabeth last night with him threatening the photographer last night. At least now, they were not questioning Elizabeth's age or ability to be a mother. Truth be told, Elizabeth was the same age as some of the Hollywood starlets getting pregnant, and she had a great deal more sense then most of them.

"Good morning Charles." Will sat down across from his long-time friend at the hotel's café. "Seen the rags?"

"Yes, and boy am I glad Jane and I flew under the radar." Charles grinned.

"For now. Remember, you are the more charismatic one, they like you better. So whenever Jane gets pregnant, you'll be the number one man again." Will shook his head.

"Not according to this." Charles handed him the society section of the paper. "It's a whole story on your epic romance and how you're really just a big old teddy bear. You know, with publicity like this, you really should run for PM."

"No thank you. I am perfectly happy exactly the way I am." Will replied. "Though this article does paint me in a sweet, cuddly light. Which is apparently all I am missing in becoming the forerunner for PM. Why don't you do it? You'd be great."

"Maybe someday." Charles shrugged. "I don't write anything off. Oh, have you heard? We each get one of the younger Bennets over the summer."

"I figured as much. I assume we're getting Kitty." Darcy shook his head. "Leaving you with Lydia."

"Why do we get Lydia?" Charles asked.

"Jane has more patience, Lizzie can only take about a week of Lydia before wanting to kill her." Will replied. "Your sweet tempered wife has better luck improving Lydia, and Lizzie handles Kitty well."

"What about Mary?" Charles asked.

"Mary is staying with us as well." Darcy shrugged. "I haven't heard anything other than that, but as much as my wife complains about me not telling her things, she is the same way."


	5. Chapter 5

Note: So the level of ridiculous is about to go up, bear with me, and pretend for a few minutes that there are crazy people like this in the world.

Four months later…

"Can I get you anything else, Mum?" Mrs. Reynolds asked.

"No, thank you." Elizabeth sighed, leaning back in her chair and fanning herself. Right now, she was reclining on a chaise in the library, several fans pointing at her and a large glass of ice water in her hands. Her very pregnant belly hung out below her simple white tank top and over the top of her loose cotton crop pants. But she was _still_ hot.

"Lizzie!" Kitty exclaimed running in. "Lizzie! Oh, there you are. You sure you don't want to come sit on the deck with us?"

"Unless there's shade or a breeze, no." Lizzie groaned. "You and Mary have fun."

"Someone sounds grouchy." Will smirked, coming in from his ride, looking disheveled and rugged in his tight jeans and tight t-shirt. "Anything I can do for you today, Lizzie?"

"You've done quite enough." She replied. "This is all your fault, you know."

"I'll be outside." Kitty said and made a quick exit.

"Lizzie…Lizzie…my darling Mrs. Darcy…" Will knelt beside her. "Come on, tell me, what can I do to make this easier for you?"

"You can get cleaned up, because I'm pretty sure you looking like that led to me looking like this." Elizabeth said. "And it makes me jealous that you got to spend the day outside, while I sit in here, the air on as high as it will go and I still feel like I'm going to melt."

"Then I have an idea." Will scooped her up.

"Put me down! You'll hurt yourself!" Elizabeth shrieked. "Put me down!"

"Nonsense." He said. She was considerably heavier than she had been, but not too heavy for him. He carried her to their bathroom and set her down on the toilet. "Wait here."

After fiddling with the shower a bit, he turned the water on and walked over to her.

"I'm not getting in the shower, Will, its too hot." Elizabeth pouted.

"Will you trust me, please?" Darcy gave her his best puppy-dog face.

It took some more convincing and work to get her in the shower with him, but it was worth it. Will had turned the temperature down so that it would be nice and cool, and Elizabeth reveled in it. He helped her get clean and washed himself, even though he thought the water was like ice.

"Better?" He asked, sitting her down on the settee in their rooms and turning the fans on her.

"Yes." Elizabeth sighed. "If I don't get this baby out, I'm gonna go crazy."

"Honey, you're only a few weeks away from your due date, you'll make it." Will kissed her hand gently. "And then you will be the most amazing mom in the world."

"Then I'll just be plain old fat. Will you still love me if I'm a big fat cow?" Elizabeth asked.

Will snorted a laugh. "What kind of a question is that? Of course I'll divorce you."

She gasped, then, when he burst out laughing, she took a playful swing at him. "You are horrible. Get me some water and I'll forgive you for being a pig."

"I can't wait until you're not pregnant." He sighed, standing up. "Then I'll stop being your bloody slave."

"No dear, you get the middle of the night feedings and all the poopie diapers." Elizabeth giggled as he made his way down to the kitchen.

"If she doesn't have this kid soon, I'm gonna go crazy." Will sighed, walking into the kitchen.

"She doesn't have much longer. With such a small frame, she'll be early, her body will not be able to handle the size of the baby." Mrs. Reynolds smiled, not looking up from her baking.

"You really think so?" Will asked, getting a glass of water.

"Her due date is in two and a half weeks, I don't expect her to last until the end of this week." Mrs. Reynolds shrugged. "You're going to be a father a lot sooner than you expect."

"What? The end of the week? Do you-" Will did not finish his statement. A loud scream came from upstairs followed by a crash. "Lizzie."

"I'm okay." Elizabeth said, trying to get up from the floor.

"Honey, what happened?" Will asked, helping her up.

"My water broke and I panicked." She replied as he scooped her up.

"Your water broke? Do I need to call the hospital? Anyone?" He began to panic a little.

"William, take me to the guest room we set up, get Mrs. Reynolds and call the Doctor." Elizabeth instructed. "We have time, you need to relax."

He just nodded and took her to the guest room they had set up as a birthing room. Then Will ran downstairs to get Mrs. Reynolds and call the hospital.

"Her water broke." He said, a little out of breath. "The baby is coming."

"Okay. You call Maggie Gardner and Jane; they'll want to be here. I'll take care of contacting the hospital and getting Elizabeth all comfortable." Mrs. Reynolds replied calmly. "We have time."

Several hours later…

"Okay, Lizzie, you're at 8 centimeters, and doing really well. How are the contractions? Have they increased in pain or frequency?" Dr. Susannah Trent, Elizabeth's OB/GYN who was supervising the home birth, asked.

"Yes." Elizabeth nodded, grimacing as another contraction hit her. "How much longer?"

"Not much, you're very, very close." Dr. Trent smiled. "You're doing great. I'm going to go prep the cleaning station we've set up, but I'll be back."

"Lizzie, you're doing great." Will kissed her forehead, still holding tight to her hand. "It'll all be over soon."

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one pushing something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a quarter." Elizabeth clinched her jaw as another contraction hit her.

He wisely kept his mouth shut about the gross over-share and just kept holding her hand and dabbing her sweaty brow with a cool, damp cloth.

It took almost another hour for Elizabeth to dilate to ten centimeters. Will thought he was going to faint when Dr. Trent said the words "It's time." Mrs. Reynolds had pulled in a chair for Jane to sit in; she was weak from pacing and had nearly fainted. Will suspected that Jane might be pregnant, but he was not sure, so he did not press the issue. Lady Gardiner had not yet arrived, but that was to be expected, she was a fair distance away and had to arrange for the care of her own children before leaving London.

"Okay, Lizzie, next contraction you feel, I want you to push." Dr. Trent instructed.

After that, Will didn't remember much, just a lot of screaming and coaching Elizabeth, followed by the most wonderful sound he'd ever heard: the scream of his son. He didn't remember cutting the cord, he was told he did just fine, and he didn't remember Jane or Mrs. Reynolds crying. It all left his mind when he held that little baby boy.

"Hi. I'm your Daddy." Will smiled at the infant. "I'm going to take care of you, make sure you grow up big and strong. I want you to meet someone else, she hasn't seen you all clean, its your Mummy, she's the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world and don't you dare forget it."

"Hi baby." Elizabeth cooed as Will laid him next to her on the bed. "Hi. I'm your Mummy…you're so beautiful."

"We did it. You did it." Will grinned, stroking her forehead. "He's perfect."

"Yeah. He is." She smiled. "What's his name?"

"We haven't thought of one have we? How about Gerard? No, James Gerard Darcy. It's a good strong name." He said, holding the baby's tiny hand. "Do you approve?"

"Of course. That name is perfect. Welcome to the world James. For now we'll call you Jim, though." Lizzie grinned weakly at the baby.

"Yes. And soon we will be giving you brother or a sister." Will smiled.

"Not too soon, though. I need to recover. Maybe get my figure back." She sighed.

"You have a beautiful figure," he laughed, "No need to change that at all."

"Darling, to have more kids you need to be attracted to your wife." Elizabeth said.

"There will never be a day when I don't find you attractive. Although, when you told me you were pregnant, you were quite a mess that day." Will chuckled, stroking her hair gently. "How exactly did you end up like that?"

Elizabeth thought back to the moment that she told Will about the baby. She'd been out for a run, trying to think of a good way to drop the bomb…

_Even though there were millions of people in London, the park near the townhouse seemed like a well-kept secret. The same hundred or so people used it all the time, and no one else ever bothered with it. She would miss these runs when the pregnancy was too far along, Elizabeth always passed the same runners, and though she never met them, she knew their "names" and all about their lives. There was Short-Shorts, whose name is self-explanatory; whom Lizzie believed was an accountant or banker, married, but no children, with a workaholic wife. But that was okay for Short-Shorts, because he loved to work too. Then there was La La Lu Lu, who ran by with an iPod and a glazed look on her face. Elizabeth figured she was some up-and-coming artist or designer, though lately she'd been thinking that maybe trophy wife would be a better description for Lu Lu. But that wasn't what she was supposed to be concentrating on. She was supposed to be thinking of ways to tell Will that they were pregnant. _

_"There must be some way." Elizabeth sighed and tripped over a root on the dirt path, sending her into a puddle of mud. _

_"That is disgusting." She groaned, realizing that mud was now caked on her face, hair, clothes, and body. It was mixing with the sweat from her run, causing it to stick to her body. Then she noticed that in the process of falling, something had caught on her pants and ripped a giant hole on her thigh. "Oh, I'm just going home. Hell with the rest of my run." _

_She'd made it home without further incident, and prayed Will was still in parliament so she could sneak upstairs and shower. No such luck. She opened the door, nearly knocking over one of the painters they'd hired to repaint the entry. He threw up the paint bucket in surprise and half of it landed on the already dirty Elizabeth Darcy. _

_"I'm so sorry, my Lady, I didn't see you." The painter took out a rag and tried to help her clean up. _

_"No. I'm just going to go get clean. Don't' worry about it." She sighed. At this point, what else could possibly go wrong? _

_"Lizzie?" Will asked as she walked in._

_Elizabeth groaned. Her plot now foiled, she'd have to explain why she looked like this, which meant telling him why she wasn't paying attention, which meant telling him about the baby. _

_"Lizzie, are you okay?" He asked._

_"No. I fell in a mud puddle because I wasn't paying attention and I've had a gallon of paint dumped on me. This is the wrong color, by the way." She replied. "It's just been a really bad day." _

_"Well, how did the Doctor go?" He was a little concerned._

_"I'm fine." Elizabeth shrugged. Maybe she would get out of telling him just yet._

_"You were puking your guts out, you get really tired, no, there is something wrong with you. What did the Doctor find?" Will nearly demanded. He was worried now. _

_"No…nothing is wrong with me. Those are normal." She shook her head. "Will, I'm not sick, I'm pregnant." _

_His jaw dropped and he stared at her for a moment, in pure shock, before racing over to her, hugging, and kissing her. _

_"Will, you'll get all dirty like me." Elizabeth giggled._

_"Who cares? I'm going to be a father." He grinned, kissing her again. _

"I just couldn't have had worse luck that afternoon." Elizabeth smiled.

"Yes. Most people would have to try to fall in a mud puddle and get paint spilled all over them. You have real talent, Lizzie." Will grinned.

"Excuse me, Lord Darcy, Lady Darcy, I need to take the baby now and put him in the nursery so we can keep a good eye on him." Dr. Trent said gently.

Elizabeth nodded and handed the baby over to the Doctor.

"Why don't you get some sleep and I will go and inform any family who does not already know." Will kissed her forehead gently. "Sleep well, my love."

"Will, there's some kind of riot at the gates." Jane said worriedly as Will exited Lizzie's room.

"A riot? What?" Will asked, confused.

"I don't know. They swarmed Charles and Aunt Maggie coming in. Some were reporters, others looked like regular people." She explained. "Mrs. Reynolds doubled security, but its rather frightening. I mean, if anything goes wrong with the baby, we wouldn't be able to get him out."

"Take deep breaths, Jane. I'll go see what's going on." Will smiled at his sister-in-law. "Don't worry about it."

Will made his way into the study, where Charles and Maggie Gardner were practically glued to the television.

"What's going on?" He asked, startling them both.

"The whole place has gone mad." Charles sighed. "There's a bunch of reporters out there demanding access to the baby and Elizabeth and they all want answers about your poor treatment of Wickham, claiming he was wrongly accused."

"Bloody _Lifetime_ movie." Margaret Gardner shook her head. "I should tan Lydia's hide for pulling that little stunt."

"Is that where they're getting their information from?" Will asked.

"It says 'based on the actual accounts of Lydia Bennet'. It's all told from her perspective. Then several of the actors were on Oprah saying how they'd like to hear your side of the story, because they just couldn't understand how heartless you could be by putting this poor, misunderstood man behind bars." Charles explained, not looking up from the tube. "Basically, a load of rubbish, but people are eating it up."

"You want me to chase them away with a broom? Because I'll do it." Margaret offered.

"No thanks, Aunt Maggie. I know you would and I know you would get them away, but this is something I need to handle." Will sighed. "Anyone fancy a press conference from the front steps?"

"Good luck, mate." Charles shook his head.

Will groaned as the press and protestors (for lack of a better word) were escorted closer by the security personnel. This was not going to be any fun.

"One question at a time, please." Will sighed. "I do, however, have a statement. My son, James Gerard Darcy was born at 6:02 this morning, he is healthy and his mother and I are happy to welcome him and overjoyed that he is going to be fine."

"Lord Darcy, a question. A Mr. Wickham has filed for DNA testing, insisting that the baby is his. Do you have any comment on this?"

"That man is sick and will do anything to get his hands on a large sum of money, either by blackmailing or manipulation. It is an insult to myself and my wife to even suggest such a thing. He can file any and all motions he wants, there is no truth to any of this."

"Lord Darcy, the recent movie that aired on the American channel _Lifetime_ depicts you and your wife in a less-than kind light. It also claims to be based on the true accounts of your sister-in-law, Lydia Bennet. Who are we to believe?"

"My sister-in-law was not in an emotionally stable place when she sent that story off, and as such, the experiences are colored by her heightened emotional state, and not true to life. My entire family, and the entire Bennet family request that everyone understands that just because it is based on a true account does not mean everything in it is true." Will replied, still trying to fight back the anger from the first question.

"When will you step forward and help the man you wrongly accused get out of prison?" Someone with a "Free Wickham" sign shouted.

"Wrongly accused? That man murdered a promising young medical student for no good reason, kidnapped my wife, and threatened to rape and kill her. He is awaiting trial and hopefully will be convicted of all these crimes, and I wish nothing more to do with him."

"He claims that he is innocent of the murder, and that he and your wife were having an affair, and things got a little rough." The same sign-holder said.

"That's ridiculous. If that were the case, he would not be charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to rape and commit bodily harm. The police do not just arrest someone based on word alone, they have evidence to support it."

"The press demands access to the baby and your wife once they are both able to be out. They are public figures, you cannot hide them away here behind a gate and security guards." One reporter yelled. "Not even you can crush the freedom of the press."

"And I have no intention of crushing the freedom of the press. I do, however, intend to protect my family from the media vultures who will do nothing but exploit them. My wife, my son, they are not public figures unless they are out in public, and even then, the press needs to exercise more discretion. Especially your magazine, sir, you will print just about anything, no wonder your legal department keeps busy, you print something libelous or slanderous every single day. How dare you, you who print lies about the woman I love, demand to see them? Why would I expose my family to the likes of you?"

"Lord Darcy, one further question-"

"No." Will held up a hand to stop them. "No more questions. The security guards will escort you off the property. You are not to step foot on this property without express permission from myself or Lady Darcy, good day." Will said coldly and walked back inside.

"Good job, dear." Maggie Gardner smiled as he walked in the door. "I especially liked that last part."

"This is good for our bill. You need to contact the _Times, _give them an exclusive on the press being out of control. Make sure they know they are excluded from this out of control frenzy, though they will not be excluded from the law if it is passed." Charles suggested. "Spin this our way, it will win sympathy among the people."

"You know, you really should run for PM." Will sighed. "I'll go make the call."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Back after a long hiatus. This story continues to get more ridiculous at this point...sorry. Enjoy!

Several weeks later…

"I do not understand why we need to do this." Will paced. "We know that Wickham is full of it."

"Yes. We do. But this will prove that we know he is ridiculous and we are simply doing this to prove that he is a liar and hopefully get him locked up for the rest of his natural life." Elizabeth smiled. "Relax, darling. I told the reporter from the _Times _that we are doing this to stop all this Wickham nonsense once and for all. We know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jimmy is ours. I've only ever been with you, and I am proud of that. It will work out, Darling."

"If you say so." He grumbled, playing with his son's tiny hands. "Your mother can talk me into just about anything, and I'm sure you'll be able to do the same. When did I become such a softy?"

"Okay, the results of the test are in. You are, of course, right, the baby is yours." The Doctor smiled, walking in.

"Thank you Doctor. Would you call Mr. Sinclair at the _Times _with this information? He's doing a story for us. And include the chances that this test could have been wrong or falsified."

"Of course, Lady Darcy. By the way, the chances I'm wrong are one in 500 billion. And the tests are done at rotating private facilities following strict contamination guidelines, so there is no bias." The Doctor nodded. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

"Thank you." Will nodded and they walked out.

"Well, things are looking up. You got some pretty hefty restrictions passed, this whole Wickham thing is about to disappear, our son is healthy and happy, and we, my love, are about to be truly free." Elizabeth grinned.

"Oh, and that horrible rag, _Gossip_, is about to go out of business. They were the ones who sent an armed reporter to our house. Apparently, they are known for things like that, and since the new laws are in place, they simply cannot afford to keep their writers, because the fines are so hefty." He smiled.

"Thank goodness. They frightened me." She nodded.

"Let's go home." Will said.

"Let's."

It was a blessing to finally get James down for bed. Will had fallen asleep an hour ago, but Elizabeth had only just gotten the baby down. On her way back to the bedroom, she heard a window slide open and a thud, like a person landing inside a room. Not thinking of anything but her son, Lizzie dashed back into the nursery, grabbed the baby, locked the door, and dove into the large, mostly empty wardrobe, closing the door behind her most of the way. Then she prayed. Will would be awake, any noise out of the ordinary woke him, hopefully that would scare the thieves or whoever away. Then the door shook, like someone was trying to get in. It couldn't have been Will, he would have told her who it was. Instead, the door just kept shaking, like someone was trying to break the door in.

It seemed like she'd been hiding for hours. By now, the few servants in the house would definitely be up, and she wondered at the audacity of the thieves. The door burst open and two men walked in, through the small crack in the wardrobe, she noticed a gleaming knife in the hand of one man. They began to search the room, checking in the closet, and in the crib. Lizzie prayed they would stay away from the wardrobe, and by some miracle, they did. Then she noticed why.

"What the hell are you doing in my house with a knife in my son's room?" Will demanded, his voice deadly even.

"You took our lives away from us, did you really think we'd take it quietly?" The man without the knife asked.

"Not at all." Will shook his head and fired two or three shots. Both men fell and were still. "Lizzie?"

Elizabeth shakily climbed out of the wardrobe, too scared and shocked to speak. Thank goodness the baby was okay, and by some act of God, he was still asleep.

"Will…you killed them." She looked at him.

"I know. Are you okay? Did they get you?" He asked, checking her over. "Did they hurt you?"

"No. But why did you kill them?"

"Elizabeth, snap out of it." Will whispered harshly. "One of them had a gun, the other had a knife. They were not here to scare us or steal from us; they were here to _kill_ us. Now. Are you okay?"

"I locked myself in here and hid. They never even saw me." Elizabeth replied.

"Come on. The others will have heard the gunshots. We need to get to the attic and barricade ourselves in." He explained. "Come on."

They went out into the hall and across to the guest room where the attic access was. As quietly as he could, Will shut and locked the door, then pulled down the ladder. "Give me the baby, you climb up, then I'll follow. Quickly now."

Elizabeth did as she was told and climbed up quickly. Then Will followed a little slower. The door was shaking with more attempts to get in at that point, and as soon as he was safely up, Will pulled the ladder back up and secured it by jamming a metal pole trough the rungs. The ladder could no longer unfold, which meant the trap door could no longer open, and they were safe, at least for the time being.

"We'll be safe for now up here. I don't even know if they know we're up here." Will whispered. "Follow me, and only step on the boards I step on. And step lightly."

He led her over to the back corner, an area surrounded by boxes.

"If nothing else, I can hide you until the police come." He sighed, sitting next to her.

So far, no sounds were coming from the trap door; hopefully the intruders had no idea where they went.

"Why didn't we just leave?" Elizabeth whispered.

"I got a text message from Charlie that woke me up. The entire staff is holed up in the kitchen, they can't get out. The house is surrounded and there are at least 15 men inside. They called the police. No one seems to care about the staff in there, but they can't get out. How is James?"

"Still asleep, thankfully." Elizabeth sighed. "Will…what…why would anyone want to kill us?"

"I'm willing to bet it has something to do with that magazine being forced out of business. The owners and writers lost millions and they've been supporting Wickham. I knew they were dangerous, but this is ridiculous." Will shook his head, holding her closer. "I'm just thankful you got up to check on the baby. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here. I woke up and saw someone about to stab your side of the bed."

His head slumped a little and he shook it to try and stay alert.

"Will. What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, trying to keep her voice low.

"Shot. It's okay. It's a flesh wound, the bullet went through. I will be fine." Will replied. "Besides, it's not the first time I've been shot, you know."

Elizabeth pulled off his shirt gently, balancing the baby in her arms. She balled it up and pressed it against the wound, in an attempt to stop the blood flow. He was fading fast, he must have lost quite a bit, it seemed like blood was everywhere, and Lizzie was rapidly growing desperate.

"Will, tell me…tell me when you first knew you loved me." She whispered.

"It…it was…" He shook his head again, trying to stay awake. "It was when I kissed you that first time…something about you…captivated me. Now I understand why…you are the best…best thing…I love you. It hurts to talk. Why don't you tell me about how you first knew you loved me?"

"That's easy. Though I think I was in the middle before I realized I'd started." Elizabeth smiled. "I knew for sure just before the Queen's Ball. I knew I was ready to say those words to you. But I knew so long before that…and even when we had that horrible fight, I never once thought we would truly stay apart forever.

She continued whispering to him for what seemed like hours until finally they heard the staff calling for them, almost in a panic.

"We're in here! Mrs. Reynolds!" Elizabeth shouted.

Then she heard pulling, and finally, despite her husband's best efforts, the trap door gave way and opened.

"Come on, Will, they're here." She shook him gently.

William Darcy didn't move, didn't respond. The pool of blood around him was much larger, and his hand had fallen away from the balled-up shirt Lizzie had placed on his wound.

"Will! Will! Get up! Please!" She shook him again, and when she still got no response, she fell into hysterics. "You can't leave me! You promised you never would! Don't you dare leave me!"

She kept screaming like this until she felt a sharp pain and the world started to get all fuzzy. The last thing Lizzie remembered was Mrs. Reynolds taking Jim and then she was being lifted by a pair of strong, but unfamiliar arms.


	7. Chapter 7

The press was camped outside the hospital for any news of the Darcys or their son. No one quite knew what happened that night, but they were about to find out a little more. Sir Charles Bingley, brother-in law of Elizabeth Darcy and best friend of Will Darcy, was about to give the press a statement and answer a few questions. His beautiful wife was nowhere to be seen, but most assumed she was with her sister.

"This is why Will and I were so set on passing these laws through. We both firmly believe in the freedom of the press, but not at the expense of innocent lives." Charles said. "No one has the right to break into a home with the express purpose of murder – no matter what wrong was done to him. We must protect our innocents, even our public figures – if we all had such an attitude, this attack, and I will call it that, on a family – on a woman and her infant son, it could have all been prevented."

"Sir, how is Lady Darcy? And the baby?" One reporter, who seemed genuinely concerned, asked.

"Lizzie is fine, and Jimmy is doing fine. I believe he slept through the entire ordeal, by some act of God." Charles replied.

"And Lord Darcy? We have heard nothing about him." Another reporter asked.

Charles sighed. This was going to be a difficult day.

Elizabeth could not be moved. More than a dozen nurses had tried, told her there was nothing she could do, she did her best, but Lizzie refused.

"Lizzie. Come on, eat something." Jane whispered.

"How can I eat?" She was almost despondent.

"You must, you have your son to think of, you know. You're all he has right now." Jane replied.

"Don't you think I know that?" Elizabeth snapped, then sighed. "I'm sorry Jane…I just…I can't handle this."

"No one should ever have to handle this." Jane patted her hand gently. "But he wouldn't want you wasting away like this. So come on, get up, we're going to get some food, and you can bring it right back here."

"I'll just send a nurse. You go home and get some sleep, be with your husband for a while. I promise, Jane, I'll be okay." Lizzie smiled reassuringly at her sister. "Go Jane."

"Okay. I'll be back in a few hours." Jane kissed her sister's head and walked out.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to the man lying prone in the hospital bed, a thousand tubes coming out of his body. He was alive, but he'd lost so much blood, he was in a coma. The Doctors told her that Will could wake up anytime, or he could stay like that forever. He had lost a lot of blood, so his body could make a complete recovery from the rest of the coma or it could just stay the way it was. It was all Lizzie could do to maintain her composure and pray for him to come back to her. He'd been like that nearly a day, and she hadn't left his side. As soon as Will was out of surgery, she sat beside him and held his hand, talking to him, sometimes crying, but never leaving his side.

"Will…you can't leave me. I love you too much." Elizabeth kissed their held hands and laid her head down to sleep a little.

She awoke a few hours later to a slight movement from his hand. Lizzie blinked, not sure if she'd really felt it, then she looked up at his face and saw his loving eyes staring back at her.

"Why is it that every time something bad happens to us, I'm the one who ends up being shot?" He asked.

Lizzie sobbed and laughed all at once, kissing his hand.

"No dear, don't cry." Will said, though he had tears in his eyes, "I can't handle it."

"I…my darling, I'm so glad you're okay." She grinned, crying.

"You think I'd leave you all alone?" He asked. "Never. Did they get everyone?"

"Yes. It's over. It's finally over." Elizabeth nodded.

"How's the baby?" Will asked. "You look terrible."

"That is no way to speak to your wife, sir." The Doctor smiled walking in with Jim in her arms. "And your son is more than fine. He's doing great. Glad to see you up and about, maybe now Lady Darcy will follow our orders and get some rest."

"What do you mean? Lizzie?" He shot his wife a glare.

"She hasn't left your side." The Doctor smiled. "But right now, I need her to feed Jim and I need to check your vitals. You gave us quite a scare."

Pemberly had never looked so welcoming, especially after their ordeal. Lizzie planned to spend a time just being with her family. Will was rapidly on the mend, Jim was growing bigger and bigger every day, and she was rapidly getting back to the shape she was in before Jim. Things were finally getting back to normal. Well, as normal as their lives ever got. She and Will spent rainy days lounging about in their pajamas, watching movies and playing with Jim, and sunny days out on the grounds, riding or taking long walks.

"How is this for the peace I promised you?" Will rolled up on one elbow so he could look at her.

"Took you long enough." Elizabeth giggled. "I never knew when I met you that life would take this kind of turn."

"Neither did I." He grinned. "I was just trying to land the world's most beautiful wife and live happily ever after."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." She replied as he bent down and kissed her neck. "And neither will that."

"But I think it will." Will said and continued to kiss her, finally finding her willing mouth. "I love you, and I promise, if it's within my power, we will have peace like this for the rest of our lives."

"I'm holding you to that, you know." Elizabeth smiled up at him. "So you are in big trouble if this doesn't work out."

"What are you gonna do? Divorce me?" He asked.

"No. I couldn't stand it." She shook her head, grinning. "Because it is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a wealthy, single man is in the market for a wife. Every woman who meets you will consider you the rightful property of their daughters or themselves, and I couldn't stand to see you with anyone but me. So I guess you're just stuck with me."

"Damn." Will grinned, and pulled her close. "That's just too bad, isn't it?"

The End.


End file.
